Planning for the Future…

Transcription

Appendix I:
External Consultations
Planning for the Future…
Scanning the Toronto
Environment
Toronto Police Service
August 2011
2011 Environmental Scan
EXTERNAL CONSULTATION – MUNICIPAL COUNCIL MEMBERS
(invitations sent to all Councillors)
MARCH 24TH, 2011
Councillor Mike Layton, Ward 19 (Trinity-Spadina)
• there are pockets and isolated incidents but generally safe area
• biggest issue is traffic, in particular speeding – persistent problem despite attempts to address (e.g.
speed bumps)
• police presence mainly felt along the main arteries rather than side streets that are complaining most –
need to find a better way to show police presence on minor streets
• with movement of club district westward into residential neighbourhoods, noise and mischief are now
an issue – significant ‘inconvenience’ and main complaints to the office
• don’t know what ‘fix’ is possible, other than licensing or zoning at city level – not really a police issue
completely but we will need help – more by-law officers – is there anything police can do?
• security around condominiums an issue – had a rash of condo garage break-ins targeting cars; most
condos have security systems, not all have security personnel
• need to educate people – difficult to get message to condo residents regarding meetings – perhaps get
material from police to pass along or have an officer attend at a community meeting
• safety in parks – there are a number of large parks that attract people who like to hang out late at night
– some behaviour inappropriate, some criminal
• tunnels and bridges being planned and constructed – need police input regarding CPTED and safety
enforcement later
• need enforcement of bike lanes (people parking on bike lanes etc.) – safety concerns – forcing bikes
outside bike lanes
• also need enforcement of cyclists when they break the law – e.g. having no bell
• commercial trucks/cars making deliveries cause much congestion – needs enforcement
Councillor Chin Lee, Ward 41 (Scarborough-Rouge River)
• concerned about safety in high-rises – had rash of robberies – had a community safety officer come in
to speak to residents about how to improve security
• private clubs and not licensed establishments – doors are locked, windows blackened, cameras –
residents are concerned about what is going on – activity generally only happening at night
• the licensing department says they have no powers – police can’t get in except undercover
• massage parlours are also an issue – some licensed, some not
• not sure what police can do regarding the private clubs and massage parlours other than patrol more
frequently
• the area is very safe in general – isolated incidents
• elder abuse is a concern – CPLCs have asked police to come talk about it – language barrier
problematic as many people in the community were not born in Canada
• there has been a number of robberies of Chinese eateries advertising ‘cash only’ in window
• would like more active CPLC to see what can be done to help
• parking an issue for some, others don’t want enforcement; parking of commercial trucks, in particular,
is sometimes an issue – gone when police arrive
Appendix – External Consultation
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Councillor Sarah Doucette, Ward 13 (Parkdale-High Park) (written submission)
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communication with youth is a priority: Ward 13 has a large demographic of young people, and has
several elementary and high schools
many of the issues listed below have a youth involvement factor, which needs to be addressed
regular school visits help the police be seen and heard in our community; interactions with high school
students, such as playing basketball or soccer with the kids, would humanize the officers for the
students
a number of residents have complained about graffiti and tagging occurring, especially in laneways in
and the parks; working with residents and artists to try to create mural to help alleviate this problem
finding a safe place for cyclists to ride has been an issue – pedestrians are complaining about the large
number of cyclists on the sidewalks – increased enforcement is needed
cyclists must also be able to feel they are safe while riding their bikes
in regards to more serious crime, breaking and entering of both homes and vehicles is an increasing
concern
while main streets have proper enforcement, residential streets are often neglected – residents have
complained about speeding and sign infractions throughout the residential streets, plus cars not
obeying crosswalks around schools
appreciate that a lot of these issues are due to the number of staff at the local division, which does not
allow for officers to be everywhere all of the time
Councillor Mary Fragedakis, Ward 29 (Toronto-Danforth) (written submission)
• East York is not deemed a ‘high priority’ crime area by the City and therefore does not receive any
funding toward crime prevention for youth
• since the last Environmental Scan, the ‘Officer on the Beat’ reports they have seen a “huge change” in
the number of petty crimes in specific areas
• businesses are reporting fewer shoplifting occurrences and, if and when they occur, they are seldomly
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reported, and are generally reported after the fact when speaking to an officer
lighting around a busy intersection is problematic and needs to be improved; people loiter in laneways
nearby
drug trafficking an issue – as fast as 54 Division shuts down a source, new ones pop up
while a local youth hostel has been branded as the source for some crime, specifically drugs, this is a
misconception: police report that there is less crime as an outcome of resident activity at the hostel
than crime committed locally
graffiti is rampant especially along the laneways and Toronto Parking Authority parking lots;
businesses and local residents in one area have been waging a successful ‘war’ against this ongoing
problem – other areas need to do the same
have been sporadic outbreaks of petty crime (home and car break-ins, muggings, vandalism, etc.),
however, in each instance, the police have been able to identify and catch the perpetrators
Ward 29 is changing from older, immigrant families to younger, second generation Canadians and
more two-income families are moving into the community because of the easy access to public transit
must consider an influx of teenagers within the next 5-10 years who will need facilities and resources
to keep them occupied and out of trouble
priority is pro-active prevention – benefits not just how policing is conducted, but generates a sense of
safety and well-being within the community
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EXTERNAL CONSULTATION – PRIVATE & PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANISATIONS
APRIL 4TH, 2011
Susan Vardon, United Way Toronto
• major research paper regarding ‘vertical poverty’ released in January
• continue to need place-based lens – increasing concentration of people in suburbs and number of high
poverty neighbourhoods has more than quadrupled
• interviews with residents indicate that private stock of apartment buildings are badly served by
infrastructure, transit
• concentration of poverty in high-rises recognized as risk to the well-being and prosperity of region
• joint strategy to build up inner suburbs involving the United Way, provincial government, City of
Toronto, etc. – place-based investments – a lot of good has been done, but it’s still insufficient
many people feel their building is a safe place to live, even though still have much drug dealing
recommendation in report is to set up groups of tenants to address problems, with police to collaborate
resident leadership in revitalizing neighbourhood is very important
CPLCs need to be more comprehensive to reflect diversity of communities
been working on evaluation and impact measurement – trying to improve capacity and show impact of
work – willing to work/share with police
• inquired of the possibility for community groups to have some access to crime statistics to help with
their planning
• have been convening tables of interested stakeholders to discuss desired outcomes regarding youths –
United Way will be part of rather than lead community-wide planning (where do we want to be in five
years?)
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Ted Libera, Toronto District School Board
• grateful for growth in school/police partnership over past 5 years – having contact in Community
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Mobilisation unit has opened lines of communication and made it easier to connect proactively, as
well as deal with issues as they arise
School Action Team website is a great tool
the police/school protocol almost complete – excellent partnership and process – really good
communication
Sunday morning lockdown training is excellent and working well – terminology change from
‘lockdown’ to ‘hold and secure’ has been exceptionally helpful in taking misunderstanding away
the School Resource Officer (SRO) program is in 37 schools in TDSB and is a very important
program – where officers understand the partnership, the SRO program is an outstanding success and
resource, but where the SRO doesn’t understand the full potential of the program, there are occasional
difficulties
divisions play a huge role in how the SRO program is perceived by officers and community
the relationship between the officer and the principal is important – if good, almost anything is
possible
co-ordination and communication of the SRO program is critical – since we can’t talk to all 17
divisions ourselves, strong central co-ordination is critical
overall, strongly support partnership – outstanding for the city and community
Community School Liaison Officers (CSLOs) valuable at elementary level, too
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Peter Barrans, Toronto Catholic District School Board
• echo everything said by TDSB
• since Bill 81, The Safe Schools Act 2000, change in partnership has been tremendous – police are
‘with’ the schools
• protocol almost completed, mainly due to the good relationships between the police and the school
boards
• used to only work with police in reactive situations, now involved in more proactive activities – now
about 80% proactive, 20% reactive
• police also in elementary schools, which is good
• SRO program not necessarily reducing crime, but there has been an increase in relationships between
police and students
• together with the TDSB, assists Community Mobilisation in training SROs – have seen a change in
officer attitude to youth
• looking to the future, the most difficult thing is dealing in Internet safety (bullying, Facebook, gangs)
– would like to share more in this with police, perhaps in joint training – schools, SROs, CSLOs, and
other officers
Paul Nguyen, Jane-Finch.com
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www.jane-finch.com is a volunteer project – allows people to connect in and with the community
to be accessible and credible – try to present both sides of any stories and not take sides
site allows people to broadcast their opinions – gives people a voice
would like stronger relationship with police on website – in the past, there have been issues with
police, with community members feeling targeted (even in cyber-space)
can’t ‘manage’ the message too much or people won’t believe you
there are some language barriers with older generation, but can reach younger people, who are all
involved with social media
trying to develop library of information for community, so people can understand there is more to the
community than drugs, gangs, crime, and guns
would like to have police speak on the website
Harvey Low, Social Research & Analysis Unit, City of Toronto
• past work with police and United Way in determining priority neighbourhoods; were defined through
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data of all types (where do we want to invest , what areas are at risk, what are demands for services,
etc.)
didn’t have crime data then, but partnership has grown with Corporate Planning unit of the Toronto
Police Service
current work is ‘Wellbeing Toronto’ – have neighbourhood action plans, etc., and are trying to
determine if efforts have been beneficial in the previous priority areas – monitoring indicators
moving forward – looking at metrics across all neighbourhoods – interested in crime data, but also
information from other areas such as human services, infrastructure, and socio-demographic data –
have included positive indicators in database, rather than just traditional negative ones
presenting indicators to public on the Internet and allowing community to combine and define their
own ‘priority’ neighbourhoods – people can weight their own indicators (open data strategy)
while most of the data available to date is city data, would like to include police information on a
regular basis – would also like perception data
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• city may be moving towards a Seniors Task Force and may need information on crimes, etc. affecting
seniors
• city may also explore child- and family-related issues
John Kiru, Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (BIAs)
• 71 BIAs representing 20,000 small business people
• important to remember, how main street goes, so goes the rest of the neighbourhood – vibrant, safe
main streets are a priority for our members
• community festivals and events are part of this – use paid duties officers and these costs have been
escalating – currently working with police regarding the level of policing required
• if want vibrant neighbourhoods, must continue with community building
• traffic movement and parking are also issues, in particular the use of public right of way to conduct
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business (e.g. shredding trucks) – use of public space is an expense to community as a whole for
private business reasons
aggressive ticketing for parking gives a bad image to police – realize that it’s revenue for city and
helps with police visibility, but results in bad perception of police – maybe should be divested back to
city
also, parking enforcement is high in successful BIA areas where parking is in demand, but there is
little enforcement in other areas
many new businesses are being opened by new immigrants who don’t necessarily understand the rules
in Canada
‘broken windows’ in some small business areas, e.g. graffiti – clean-up of which is a burden to small
business owners – would like to see more enforcement of vandalism/graffiti
trying to work with Mayor – could we designate walls for graffiti?
see many panhandlers in areas of the city most visited by tourists – would like more enforcement;
homeless people camping out on streets is bad for tourism
need change in shoplifting rules (e.g. incident in Chinatown) – shoplifting is a huge loss for merchants
possible to develop a program like the SRO with BIAs? – officers already on the beat in the area could
target problems merchants are having
Tom Keefe, Community Planning, City of Toronto
• the City’s Official Plan is framed by provincial legislation and initiatives (province also oversees
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Ontario Municipal Board) and at the municipal level by zoning by-laws
Plan guides growth Toronto is the heart of a large urban area (GTA) – growing (without growing
geographically – almost all development has been in condos and smaller townhouses all over city, not
just downtown)
need to grow smarter – sustainable design, in locations that support intensification and capitalize on
current infrastructure etc. – outlined in Official Plan with a 30-year timeframe
Plan is about creating an attractive and safe city – managing growth and change will be different in
different areas according to needs
Plan sets out areas that can best accommodate growth (Priority Growth Areas)
major policy objective is a vibrant mix of land uses
change to be incremental – growth along avenues and better street use over time
city building objectives involve infrastructure investment (link growth areas), economic health, and
sustainable city buildings
Plan outlines key city building elements e.g. environmental sustainability, healthy housing stock (if
rental units are demolished, same number have to be replaced)
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• land use designations indicate what can happen in different areas of the city –protection of current uses
in 75% of area, growth in remaining 25%
• development statistics – 105,450 residential units in pipeline; since 2002 (adoption of Official Plan),
have been almost 3,100 development proposals: 80% have been residential units proposed in priority
growth areas (almost one-third in downtown and central waterfront areas)
• two major planning studies being done where growth is anticipated – Downsview (want job and
residential growth) and Lawrence Heights (looking to increase development potential)
• starting a five year review of Plan – what is working, what is not, as well as a Municipal
Comprehensive Review – reporting within the next 18 months
• new transit plans are all in line with Official Plan
Tony Doob, Centre for Criminology, University of Toronto
• two issues – youth, in particular girls, involved in crime in Toronto and the bail/remand problem
• context – Crime Severity Index for the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) is showing an
overall crime reduction, but violent crime is steady (crime drop driven by non-violent crimes)
• girls seldom involved in B & Es (relatively stable), non-sexual assaults (gradual decline, fewer girls
charged than boys)
• have seen an increase for boys in drug charges (which can be police driven), but a relatively stable,
and lower, number of girls charged
• however, there’s a different trend in robberies – girls charged two times more over the past 10 years,
while there’s only been a gradual increase for boys; overall robbery trend has been stable
• robbery of small electronic devices from youth may be an explanation
• remand problem is driven by a huge number of people in prison who haven’t been found guilty –
police involved in an indirect way
• when look at adults in custody in provincial institutions in Ontario over the past 30 years, see an
increase in number in prison without conviction, and number sentenced decreased
• involvement of police comes with decision to detain or not for a bail hearing (rather than arrest and
release) – numbers detained seem to be going up and numbers released seem to be going down
• younger officers in particular, may be holding to let someone else decide – making a safe decision
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rather than necessarily the ‘right’ decision; have to differentiate between a correct decision that goes
bad and a bad decision – may be necessary to address with young officers their decisions regarding
release and ‘erring’ on the side of caution
Toronto is charging youths at rates slightly lower than provincial rates; adults too
when look at Ontario data for kids in custody, more of them are also being held in remand (custody
awaiting trial) as with adults
when kids do get bail, courts tend to put a huge number of bail conditions on youth when released –
sets them up for failure (especially given the length of time between release and court)
nobody seems to be interested in getting kids’ cases through bail court quickly – why doesn’t one of
the three youth bail courts run later at night?
remand problem is not unique to Toronto or Canada
William Crate, Canadian Bankers Association
• Canadian Bankers Association is the oldest trade association in Canada – represents about 350,000
people
• long positive history of partnership with police
• want to improve critical infrastructure – threats to Toronto’s financial district will have an effect on
the economy nation-wide
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• need early involvement of public sector – has spoken with TPS Public Safety and Emergency
Management unit and with the City’s Emergency Management Office
• would like a comprehensive approach to protect life and assets – it’s a matter of when, not if
• have many assets and people in a small area downtown, including not only financial centres, but also
communication and transportation centres
• there’s no proactive plan in place for critical infrastructure assurance – London and New York have
plans
• Association has provided a ‘road map’ to move forward in partnership with City and TPS, and have
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had discussions at federal and provincial levels regarding security clearances – great exchange of
information going forward
active in electronic development and suspicious incident reports (SIRs)
public/private partnerships are the way to improve things
focus is prevention but also need business continuity and operational plans; need enhanced
communications strategy (practiced during G20) and intelligence data sharing
have identified a number of objectives and critical success factors
financial crimes are another issue – payment card fraud, fraudulent e-mails, phishing, etc.
CISC – victims of fraud and cyber crime up – people taking advantage of social media etc. and phones
are now like ‘mobile wallets’ – need training, and police will need to continue to change how they
deal with frauds
fraud schemes can involve social networking, cyber crime, mortgage fraud, cheque fraud, etc.;
payment card crime is increasing; credit card losses and the number of accounts affected have
increased; debit card frauds down – Montreal and Toronto are hubs
there are huge numbers of credit and debit cards in country, but only small number of organized crime
groups involved
banking industry does good job on prevention, but a weaker job in investigation and enforcement –
national problem
CBA website has statistics, but most of these crimes aren’t reported to police
there are some jurisdictional questions/challenges as to whom to report the crime to and who reports it
(the card holder? the bank?) – also, who will investigate and who will prosecute, when different
jurisdictions are involved?
intelligence sharing is needed – nationally and internationally, especially regarding organised crime,
which is active all over the world
also need to share best practices and what doesn’t work – role for governments to co-ordinate
need a National Financial Crimes strategy – don’t need more resources, just need to stop working in
silos/isolation
organised crime involved in more than just frauds (narcotics, human trafficking, etc.) – use other
crimes to get to them if necessary
need to train officers on the technological side of financial crimes so they will realise crime is taking
place
Stephen McCammon, Legal Council to the Office of the Information and Privacy
Commission
• responsible for ensuring compliance in Ontario of three pieces of legislation
• have longstanding co-operation with police and Board on privacy issues (e.g. in-car cameras, CCTV)
– even when they don’t see eye-to-eye, they work closely together – try to openly clarify and adjust
• should put out to the public more about these kinds of scanning consultations that take place and all
the partnerships that police have – important not only for work they accomplish but also for public
confidence
• public confidence is an issue for police and other institutions
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• have ever-more pervasive technology (e.g. cell phones, videos, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter) – these
tools transform how things are done and the results
• people care about their communities and want to have an impact
• open data sharing is important – need to be able to identify true costs of services – may need different
data collected to determine the impact of policies
• data can help to ‘re-frame’ the story – what is the real nature of the problems we’re dealing with and
what solutions can be developed
• how to improve information sharing? – can help people be part of solutions to complex social
problems that may end up on police’s doorstep
• public confidence can’t be ‘managed’ – must act as if everything occurs in plain view (even though
everything can’t be in plain view); police are moving this way – has been tremendous change over
past decade (e.g., policies on website)
• is an age of hyper-transparency – must be able to rationalize actions and defend credibly what we do;
must resist pressure to not work in plain view
• need to stay grounded in a rapidly changing environment
• main challenge for police is the people arrested are its ‘clientele’ – need to keep changing
relationships, forge new ones, but all information-sharing has to protect individual privacy
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EXTERNAL CONSULTATION – CHIEF’S ADVISORY COUNCIL
(invitations sent to all CAC members)
APRIL 4TH, 2011
Zul Kassamali, South Asian Community
• would like on a regular basis to get information on performance regarding priorities
• how can we as community leaders help to make police needs heard?
• sexual abuse of elders should be a priority – people have to know to report it and police have to do
something when it’s reported
• need central co-ordination to deal with elder abuse – an important issue that needs to be a priority
• mayor is down-playing diversity – have been helping police deal with diversity for years; police must
keep this priority as it’s necessary – how do we make sure the city supports this?
• current priorities are still relevant
• another issue is children of immigrants rebelling against the ways of their parents
• also, kids are being recruited by overseas groups – how can we help/how can police help?
Abdul Hai Patel, Muslim Community
• maybe the CAC needs to discuss priority issues on a regular basis
• issue of mental health is important, as is substance abuse – many inmates being released from
correctional institutions with mental health issues – it affects police and communities
• police resources will be stretched in coming years – stress levels in communities increasing, given
economic difficulties – police will have to dealt with it
• we have to become more vocal to the city about police needs; city will then go to the province
• with respect to recruiting, the Muslim community has undergone a transformation with young people
– policing now seen as valuable
• robbery is a problem, especially in some strip malls with ethnic businesses – they know that police
aren’t going to come
• an initiative by the Deputy Chief has divisional officers visiting mosques to connect, see if there are
any problems – good idea for divisional patrol officers to visit all cultural centres, places of worship
• a challenge for community is gangs in the Somali community
• and a new problem is radicalisation – have called a meeting to address this at the community level;
will be calling on police to help us work with young people and engage them
• need for funding for this, but governments won’t fund one community at the expense of others – need
to prioritize some communities though
• many parents don’t know what to do – many are new, from war-torn communities, trying to keep true
to the past, but young people are rebelling; youth are getting kicked out of home and being preyed on
by pimps, dealers, etc.
Wendy Lampert, Jewish Community
• creating diversity within the police force is important – communities want to see themselves in the
police
• have not reached into the Jewish community so far – value of policing has increased in community –
would like to work with police to increase recruiting
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• Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) will help with understanding of community, especially the orthodox
community; will also help try to find facilities for recruitment – benefits community and police
• important that community knows that police want to recruit in the Jewish community
• incredibly good relationship between police and Jewish community
• biggest crime against the community is hate crime – community needs to learn about how police
prioritise calls – it would help them learn why police don’t immediately show up to a call
• also need police to come into community to explain how they prioritise with limited resources
• community needs to feel they are taken seriously; community education is vital
• are new recruits introduced to various communities? suggests recruits should go out into the
community, one on one, then go back to their class and talk about/share what they’ve learned – they
will learn community/cultural sensitivities and community practices that they might come into contact
with as officers
• CJC would be willing to come and talk to recruits at the police college and to talk to police at retraining/in-service courses – share information regarding culture and practices – great opportunity for
community and police (but not just as a one-time thing – has to occur regularly)
Rosa Chan, Chinese Community
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Chinese relationship with community not as good this year – set back (incident with shopkeeper)
biggest issue with police is the language barrier
robbery is also a problem – it’s a big issue to small merchants, but a small issue to police
Chinese community told to report crime, but when they do, they’re told “nobody’s dying or bleeding”
and that police will come later
people get scared and have no common sense – they say police won’t come, so they should get guns
for themselves or else they close their business doors at 9 pm and scrutinize who will be let in
if ‘citizen arrest’ legislation is enacted, will need to educate people on their rights and what they can
and can’t do
have to educate people that police care – tell them what police do
police also have to give follow-up on cases, which they don’t do now – they say there’s no manpower
to do follow-ups – can’t the Auxiliary can do this? – it would help people feel police care about them
problem between community and police is that communication is not as good as it could be – need
‘ambassadors’ from each division to build relations, to go and talk to people and business owners –
people will trust them and talk to them
a focus for police needs to be new immigrants of all communities – maybe don’t trust police here as
they are an oppressive force back home – comes back to police interaction with people in street and
communication
Sid Ikeda, Japanese Community
• reports no real problems in community at this time
• Japanese community has integrated into the community to the extent that others haven’t yet
• important to build a strong community – have created a multi-organisational network to support a
strong community – important to have police participation as well
• we all need to participate together, all do our best together – it creates a strong community
• Toronto doesn’t really have an ethnic organisation that brings everyone together – police do this well;
only hear from politicians every election – they don’t see it as important as police do
• community has to support police in this
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• for the city peace garden, the Japanese community took leadership role in building multi-religion
group – police should work with this group
Gérard Parent, Francophone Community (written submission)
• most important issue for Francophone community is to increase the number of French-speaking
officers – they should come from the different multi-cultural backgrounds that make up Toronto’s
French-speaking community
• once numbers have increased, can start to work on providing an ‘active offer’ of service to
Francophones
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EXTERNAL CONSULTATION – COMMUNITY POLICE LIAISON COMMITTEES
(invitations sent to the community chairs of all CPLCs)
APRIL 6TH, 2011
Linda Martin, 11 Division CPLC
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has concerns regarding safety
visibility of police vs. police presence – don’t need police just to be visible, need them to be present
trying to reassure community that boundary changes don’t mean police presence will change
youth should be a major focus for police
there’s a disconnect between youth labelled as ‘problems’ and services available for them
getting connected with kids in high school – trying to tell them they have a visible role in the
community, get them involved, engaged, and seen in positive light; School Resource Officers (SROs)
are a great resource
bullying in high schools and elementary schools is a big issue – need protection
vulnerable citizens are also an issue – mentally ill people being targeted (assaults/murder in Parkdale)
and elderly people being targeted in frauds; violence against women, children, and newcomers is also
a concern
pedestrian and traffic safety are issues, especially with seniors and children; need to educate cyclists,
drivers, and pedestrians regarding each other’s safety and rights – enforcement should be used to hold
people accountable
‘broken windows’ in the area is being addressed/stressed (e.g. keeping graffiti down)
community engagement is important, particularly with newcomers – often haven’t had good
experiences with police – those in the community have to let them know things are different here, not
to stay away; important for us to communicate with them – get them engaged in community
try to have CPLC meetings in community – use various community facilities to draw different sectors
of the community, to involve them – get different issues brought to our attention – people more likely
to go into community spaces rather than a division
public confidence, police accountability, building trust is critical – CPLC can be a bridge
Masood Alam, 53 Division CPLC
• crime generally going down in division, still have traffic problems though
• some crimes related to youth
• divisional CRU plays vital role – community-based approach – very supportive – run programs within
community – building relationships with kids (many sports programs)
• community also plays a role – have a community office, and CPLC is a member of a youth centre
• youth are a priority in the area, but not certain how to engage youth and make meetings more
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accessible – possibility of using e-meetings, social media
communication between police and public is essential – could use regular media/information routes
for non-urgent things; use electronic means to connect with/communicate with youth or those who
don’t have time to attend in person – some people like direct, face-to-face contact
would like more direction regarding e-use by CPLCs – guidelines, not rules that they have to follow
also need a way for CPLC and the consultative committee co-chairs to communicate without going
through headquarters – suggests forming yahoo or e-mail group with someone co-ordinating – would
all be able to log on at the same time to communicate, send messages
maybe share e-mail addresses – even ones just set up by people as CPLC chairs/members – can be
used to contact, share information, ask questions, etc.
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• CPLC has mediating role between community and police – they work to build up trust on both sides;
have to get people to come forward to report – need trust to do this
Marie Belanger, 41 Division CPLC
• works near two priority neighbourhoods – works with the Neighbourhood Action Teams
• every CPLC is different – reflects its members, the community
• trying to bring everyone in – found that going out, doing informal networking and inviting them to the
meetings, doing safety walks, etc. works to meet people
• have had some small successes with the informal engagement – information shared at table and then
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with the wider community
have a number of little hotspots, but division is pretty stable
concentration of high density housing (TCHC and private) and subdivisions with original owners –
both groups have same goals for community – want safety, stability to raise their children
police should proactively try to engage people in communities that could be at risk – would give
police a comfortable entry into communities that may have felt disenfranchised (e.g. newcomer
communities); slow process, but they do attend CPLC meetings when they have issues to discuss –
need to feel empowered
we can explain what police are doing, especially that just because people don’t see police, doesn’t
mean police aren’t present
more community groups want police at their events – feel more connected, want police to hear
community concerns
challenge is to get people engaged who aren’t usually involved
Michael Wheeler, 13 Division CPLC
• working in conjunction with bar owners to deal with issues
• very pleased with TAVIS response in past couple of years in response to gang issues
• doing neighbourhood beautification – creating playgrounds and creating small parks – trying to create
neighbourhood centres
• a few years ago there were ‘no go’ areas in the neighbourhood, especially at night – this has slowly
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changed
youth crime still a concern – trying to create a youth centre video and music production (using grants)
have very diverse CPLC board and have a youth CPLC
people can come to committee meetings as they need to/as they have issues
helped focus TAVIS and enforcement initiatives – community told police what was happening, where
took outreach to disenfranchised community to get them involved – getting them involved was a slow
process, but worked
now looking to enhance the neighbourhood since we’ve cleaned out areas and improved lighting –
now looking for other projects to partner with police and address
community programs have come to make presentations to CPLC – tell us what they do, what they can
offer
members of CPLCs have to get out and make community connections – use various community
facilities to draw different sectors of the community, to involve them – get different issues brought to
our attention
finances are a real issue – CPLC trying to fund-raise to complement what the Police Services Board
gives – have a number of initiatives they would like to try, especially to fill potential void if police
budget is cut
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• would like clearer direction regarding CPLC creating partnerships and on what they can do regarding
fund-raising, etc.
• succession planning important in CPLCs – should have overlapping board member time frames so
board doesn’t all change at the same time
• need a delegation of CPLC/community members to meet with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission
of Ontario (AGCO) to tell about our problems – need to talk with policy-makers
• CPLC has become a place where people can come to share their concerns and something gets done
(maybe not by police, but other agencies) – relationship building
Ellen Hudgin, 31 Division CPLC
• concerns about youth in the area
• would like to be able to have a bursary program for students at each high school in division
• have tried to invite diverse members of community in, to be inclusive, but not always successful – are
now trying to go out to them, go out to community centres and meet there, get people engaged
• would like for co-chairs to meet regularly to share information and ideas
Angela Burns, 14 Division CPLC
• used to be many more problems in the area – have seen much improvement, much community
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engagement – residents’ associations are linking together and community working well with the
division
priority for the Service is maintaining funding
CPLCs concerned with street level issues (e.g. street level drug dealing); bigger issues like crack
houses, dealers working out of SUVs are more costly to deal with – CPLCs/community want street
focus, visibility – having police spending time/money at street level rather than larger focus is more
cost efficient
how will Service deal with fewer police officers and still address community concerns? – community
and agencies need to get more active and engaged to fill in what is going to be cut
residents’ associations and BIAs are great resources
need a policy set out for CPLCs – they in turn can develop their own procedures
need more liaison between CPLCs
Faiza Ansari, 55 Division CPLC
• graffiti, parking, panhandling were the biggest issues – generally a stable division
• need to engage the kids that don’t want to be sitting around the table with older people – have had
some success at getting kids at community barbeques
• people come on the CPLC with own agenda – sidetracks committee – how do we engage the right
people?
• CPLCs understand the challenges that face the Police Service, but the general public does not
• for example, a business b&e takes 8 hours for a response, but the owner sees 3 cars at Tim Hortons –
doesn’t realise the cars are PDS, TAVIS, etc. and not divisional cars – now won’t call when anything
happens – get a negative experience when owner used to be positive about police – lost as an engaged
community member
• how to balance response time to non-emergencies with response time to non-emergencies?
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• some problems with liquor licensed establishments – they cause so many grassroots problems (e.g.
drugs, etc.) – the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) is the problem – nothing gets
done and people get frustrated with police non-response or non-successful response – also results in
many repeat calls to police
Barbara Spyropolous, 12 Division CPLC (written submission)
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early in 2011, new divisional unit commander initiated a survey regarding the concerns of the
community
results from officers closely paralleled those of the other community members who responded
– primary concerns related to guns and gangs, drugs, break and enters, robberies/muggings
and aggressive and impaired driving
easy to see the connection among all of these criminal activities with the illegal drug business
is not unreasonable to suggest that the people of the division would like to come down hard
on drug-related activities in an attempt to promote safety in the community
also suggest that preventative action is in order – one such action is the use of Restorative
Justice in appropriate circumstances in order to force direct accountability of the offender to
his/her victim(s) and the extended community
have used Restorative Justice successfully for 2 years (have a compliance rate of 100% and a
recidivism rate of zero) – a promising trend and the activity is a healing one that leaves the
participating community with a sense of satisfaction that justice has truly been done (and cost
is negligible since Circle Co-ordinators are community volunteers and we now have the
capacity to train our own coordinators at no charge)
Rick Ross, 32 Division CPLC (voice-mail submission)
• most problems similar to those for other divisions/other CPLCs
• one of the main issues is people not stopping at stop signs or making rolling stops
• other problem is minor thefts by youth, who don’t appreciate the severity of what they’re actually
doing
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EXTERNAL CONSULTATION – OPEN PUBLIC FORUMS
SCARBOROUGH CIVIC CENTRE – APRIL 11TH, 2011
Speaker #1
• child/youth safety are very important – they are the future of our country – we must take care of them
• youth are derailed sometimes by drugs and other things – we must keep them on the right track and
keep them safe so they will be an asset to the city
• must focus on activities to motivate them, help with their development – recreational activities,
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workshops, especially for families who can’t afford to send their kids to programs – address teenagers
and even younger groups – these programs help keep kids in schools
police can partner with other agencies or facilitate programs/workshops in the community (e.g.
programs for parents and children or for parents to know how to work with/deal with their children) –
builds trust in the family and builds trust in community
some communities are afraid of police and are afraid that if they report, they will have to go to many
interviews, or will be made known as the one reporting
when South Asians see police in front of building, they assume that something is wrong, not that the
police are there to give a lecture or something
if police engage people more, people may feel more comfortable with police
Speaker #2
• why is there nothing in current priorities for seniors? safety of seniors should be a priority
• senior safety in seniors homes should be a priority – officers should go to senior homes to give talks
regarding safety
• frauds are a problem for seniors, too
• need divisional officers to make presentations
Speaker #3
• Toronto Community Housing Corporation worker – acts as a liaison – builds police trust with her, she
passes that along to community that trusts her
• police are more visible in the community, but also need engagement – not just TAVIS, but get CRUs
active again, talk to community people
• need to get the hard to reach youth to the table – we all have to figure out how, maybe using
technology, Facebook, etc.
• a challenge for police is that people don’t see what police are doing – need to explain to them the
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processes, what police do, what courts do, etc.; TPS needs a marketing strategy – what they are, what
they do, how CRUs are different from TAVIS, etc.
police should talk to people without using the contact card – just say hello, what’s happening
there’s insufficient lighting on some streets, walkways – do police work with Hydro and councillors?
There has to be a team effort – police have to listen to people’s ideas, youth especially
need a balance of both face-to-face contact and on social media, especially to engage with kids
must be interesting or kids won’t pay any attention – need to talk their language, their slang (maybe
get youth to work your social media)
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Speaker #4
• if going to use Facebook, Twitter, need someone who knows it, how these communities work – treat
them like when you would when you’re trying to engage/get entry to any other community
Speaker #5
• more cell phones have apps – should get a TPS app to send out alerts regarding what’s happening in
the community
Speaker #6
• the meeting tonight was well publicised in the community newspaper, however, not too many attended
– the public apathy is sad – people don’t come out unless there’s a specific issue/problem
• as a senior, he got the information through the community newspaper (Scarborough Mirror)
• they feel safe in the community now (wasn’t as safe a few years ago) – police and community have
done a great job
Councillor Michael Thompson
• there are many consultations and activities with local police ongoing throughout the year – great
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relationship with local divisional unit commanders
people know who to call when they have a problem and are aware that crime is going down
many communities have improved perceptions of police
doesn’t think that people aren’t interested (i.e. why they didn’t attend) – they would come if there were
problems – councillors also have problems sometimes getting people to meetings
strange to say, but crime is not one of the top three concerns in his constituency right now – people are
not here because they don’t care, but because they are already aware they are well served by police
crime, gangs, etc. are no longer number one issues in Scarborough – police and community have done
very well – now working on addressing the root causes
there are more activities, engagement in the community, but it is not necessary for police to be leaders
anymore
Councillor Chin Lee
• have noticed that cyber-bullying is increasing – have to get ahead of the curve and deal with cyber-
bullying – kids have committed suicide
• cyber networking has increased by leaps and bounds
• have to find new avenues for outreach, especially for youth
• have to figure out how to further engage residents – general population needs a little extra prompting
sometimes; people don’t necessarily come out unless its an emerging issue – if they’re happy with
what you’re doing, they don’t feel the need to come out
• the more we are transparent, the more people will trust – the TPS should tell people what it does, tell
people how it holds police officers accountable
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METRO HALL – APRIL 12TH, 2011
Speaker #1
• from Parkdale – doesn’t feel safe – someone was killed, others beaten up because they are mentally ill;
doesn’t go out because is afraid of being hurt
• would like more security at apartment building – divisional officers are there all the time; there was a
stabbing, a drug dealer on the floor, someone who jumped
• 14 Division tells him to call security, who come by two days later
Speaker #2
• lives in Parkdale, too
• need presence of officers in addition to security in building
• all watch people coming and going to drug dealer’s apartment; much drug activity and prostitution in
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drug dealers hang in bars on King Street, have heard there are weapons there
the lock on the front door is broken – called to report it, but no-one came
there’s never going to be enough police
also a problem with drivers not stopping for streetcar doors – just speeding past
takes time to build trust of the police, but it works when they do – people feel safer
communication between police and people makes a difference – the majority of people are good
people
Speaker #3
• lives in a condo – wants to know how to start a neighbourhood watch in the building
• lot of loitering and garbage in the summer, especially when Caribana and the Exhibition are on – need
more officers visible (they may be there, but they aren’t visible)
• wants to know who was in charge of making sure there are speed signs up – speeding is a very big
concern, people are going twice the speed limit – there are lots of people on foot in the area, therefore
it’s very dangerous
• there are going to be even more people out when the new condominiums get finished
Speaker #4
• why did the Service take over TTC security from the Special Constables
• if crime is down, what is the Services’ biggest challenge?
• dealing with new immigrants – often they come from places that don’t trust police – can police come
and to talk to new immigrants?
Speaker #5
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guns were a problem a few years ago – are they still a big problem for the city?
with respect to high-rises – have to do police patrols differently
crime in suburban areas is often in places where people don’t know each other
99% of police do the right thing – how are you dealing with the perception of police as “bullies” as a
result of the G20, when they’re generally not – it must be a challenge for police
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ETOBICOKE CIVIC CENTRE – APRIL 13TH, 2011
Speaker #1 (CPLC Member)
• fairly safe community, but drastic increase in graffiti – has taken upon himself to have it removed
• working with the division on it – graffiti needs to be taken off as quickly as possible – what can police
do to help?
• takes pictures of the graffiti and sends them to the division as well as to the school – posted in
teacher’s bulletins – have caught one young person
• there’s much graffiti on the backs of fences that front along the street – why are the homeowners
responsible for cleaning it up? isn’t that in the public domain? – it’s unfair to make homeowners pay
• have you considered putting cameras in areas with lot of graffiti?
Speaker #2
• paralegal – works with schools and the local division
• police, youths, and parents must work together to change their neighbourhood and improve safety
• children in schools are safe, but need programs in the community, after school – police are just in
schools, but it’s not enough – need the collaboration between police and youth (especially to build
relationships with Somali children)
• working in partnership with TDSB – can we work in partnership with the police as well?
• also, men who were employed in Somalia, come here and only have jobs as taxi drivers or no jobs –
can we have more Somali people as police officers, so that we see them and are not afraid of police
• what are the criteria for becoming a police officer, for men and women
Speaker #3
• don’t see diversity in Police Service with the Somali community – wants to see our young people in
the police force, but they are not being hired
• our children don’t have our language problems, but they’re still not part of the police – need to sit
down and have a good dialogue
• after 9/11, our community was afraid, also have problems with our women and girls wearing the veil –
creates a perception that is not true
• was a situation last week in a school – the girl said the police will not do anything, so we don’t talk to
them
• main issue is equity – we can serve in the police (not just officers but as clerks, cleaners, whatever), in
corrections, security
• one other concern – uniform police officers in schools – is there a possibility for police not to be in
uniform? (would rather they be in plain clothes)
Speaker #4
• works for TDSB – program for inner cities; program started to meet needs in schools – program offers
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financial support, teacher support, community support
she does the community support – one responsibility is parental engagement – very difficult
program has 7 clusters of about 14 schools – works to increase learning opportunity index
as a parent and a member of the Somali community, works to help parents to support students at risk
the Somali community has many riches and values, but is often misunderstood
when people from their community see a police cruiser or an officer, they start to panic – maybe this is
from their past experience – have to have police come to our neighbourhoods for good reasons; right
now we see police and leave the area because something bad must have happened
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• we have fine men in our community – what we need is trust – police have to connect with the schools,
with youth, with our community; police have to come to our community for good reasons, to be in our
community in a positive way – how can we educate the people in our community?
• also, we have young men who are university graduates, who don’t have jobs or have bad jobs just to
support their families – can police come to the colleges and universities to recruit?
• can police come to elementary schools as well, to connect to young people, to educate them so that
young children will know that police are good and what they do
• one other thing, young people (13-14 years old) sometimes get into minor trouble – they get taken
away to a police station which has big consequences – affects their self-esteem and has many other
effects – they believe their life is over and have no hope – how can we minimize these effects?
NORTH YORK CIVIC CENTRE – APRIL 27TH, 2011
Speaker #1
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the Service should try and engage the community through social media
police should build trust and respect with youth
concerned about the security in schools – how can we monitor who comes in and out?
involved with Crime Stoppers – the graffiti program with youth is very successful – it is a good way to
express themselves and keeps them out of trouble
Speaker #2
• social media should be explored further – using Twitter, e-mails; since e-mails can be set up
anonymously, it may encourage discussion with the public on such things as being abused
• the police website could be set up in sections – e.g. sections could be dedicated to ‘abuse’, ‘bullying’;
the website could also include a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ (FAQ) section
• a possible way to market the website would be to flood schools with posters
• more locations similar to the Gatehouse should be available – good environment for victims
• should start a campaign similar to the ‘Stranger Danger’ campaign, but focusing on abuse and
communicating the message that it often happens in families by someone the victim knows
• explore more partnerships with other agencies with respect to getting children out of abusive homes
• there should be some compensation by large companies committing economic crimes
• the Service should focus recruitment on crime-specific skill sets (e.g. to deal with financial crimes,
environmental crimes)
• to really address crime, government policies should be reviewed
Speaker #3
• the Service needs a social media strategy – community outreach must be very high
• Service is missing out on information because social media is not monitored 24/7
• Service functions mainly in ‘crisis’ communication (e.g. Public Information tweeting with respect to a
particular situation) – police communication in the social media environment should be less formal
Speaker #4
• how does the Service ‘train the trainers’ with respect to sensitive issues – referring to York University
incident – suggests contracting out such training
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Speaker #5
• participated in the racially-biased policing workshop at the Toronto Police College – what is the status
of recommendations/suggesting that came from the workshop
• the Board should include a youth representative; the Board should also have a committee with
community representation similar to what the Service has
• asked – as the crime rate is down, will/should police budget decrease?
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EXTERNAL CONSULTATION – COMMUNITY AGENCIES
(16 invitations sent out)
APRIL 12TH, 2011
Bob Duff, St. Simon’s Shelter
• there are about four ‘911’ calls per week from the shelter (mostly medical); about 10% require police
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crisis intervention – it means that social workers have exhausted all available tools and need assistance
the MCIT pilot project (street outreach with a nurse and officer) is a tremendous benefit in dealing
with some issues where people may be of danger to themselves or others
worried about the number of people working with who have mental health/addiction issues – speaks to
the need for MCITs
have found that officers responding are very well trained and sensitive to the issues (e.g. mental
illness) – will work with shelter operator to minimize ‘collateral issues’ when have to make in arrest,
but sometimes can be frustrated if shelter staff advocate too strongly (i.e. they may put up a wall or not
co-operate)
times we need to call are cyclical – some times of the month need more help than at others
would like greater visible presence on Thursday nights when the ‘personal needs allowance’ gets
distributed – get peripheral issues (e.g. drug dealers and other predators come around because they
know clients have money) which upsets shelter neighbours – shelter operators would be very
appreciative of police presence in the area
shelter operators can’t stop activities happening outside their facilities – neighbours sometimes don’t
understand this – it can lead to some conflicts
TPS has evolved demographically – more representative of community now
officers often go beyond what’s expected of them, but we don’t hear about this in the press
would like to see CRUs made larger – they reduce unnecessary 911 calls
CRU officers also help with training in community – they tell us what they’ll do in certain situations,
etc. (e.g. protocols, expectations, rights and responsibilities)
much of dealing with homelessness is beyond police purview – what police could do more of requires
both staff and money
what you can do is ensure all community-based agencies avail themselves of the training by the CRUs
so that they all understand each other’s roles and expectations on all sides
Andrea Gunraj and Michelle Davis, Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against
Women and Children (METRAC)
• deal with violence against women and children; focus on education, training, safety audits, systemic
changes, community capacity building – not direct services
• have identified four key service areas that require attention
• one: stronger support for Toronto youth, particularly young women facing sexual assault and other
forms of gender-based violence
o currently engaged in an initiative with TPS, the Youth Alliance Project – goal is to develop
helpful recommendations to improve police policies, practices, and plans to better support
young people, particularly young women, who face sexual assault and gender-based violence
o initial finding align with other research – have identified that young women rarely report
assaults to the police due to fear, stigma, mistrust – reporting is even lower for those
experiencing marginalisation and discrimination
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o also identified a need for a definition of ‘youth’; for enhanced police training/sensitivity with
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respect to sexual assaults; and for stronger feedback and accountability mechanisms allowing
youth input into police policies and practices that affect them
two: community safety audits
o are community led; identify what’s safe and not in neighbourhoods and develop solutions
o common themes among youth participants from audits are fear of police harassment as barrier
to reporting crimes, concern about personal information being collected by police, and lack of
clarity about rights and police policies when interacting with police
o suggest need to build positive community-police relationships – making community safety
audits a priority could help, especially where youth and women can take a lead role
three: focus on Aboriginal women
o there is need for a police unit dedicated to addressing violence against Aboriginal women, in
partnership with Aboriginal services – given the discrimination and high risk of violence that
Aboriginal women face, this should be a priority
four: focus on hate crimes
o is a need for increased support and funding for the Hate Crimes Unit as the diversity of the
city continues to grow and concerns about discrimination, racial profiling, and targeting of
marginalised communities persist
in general, when youth have a say in the process, they will feel more comfortable using the process –
benefits may outweigh the risk of letting youth have a say in policies
need to educate regarding youth diversion/alternate dispute resolution processes – youth don’t always
end up arrested and incarcerated; youth don’t necessarily want people to end up in jail, but want some
form of justice – if aware of alternate processes, may be more willing to report some crimes
some people do feel intimidated by police presence – may need someone to help facilitate dialogue
between these people and police (e.g. get school to help facilitate with youths, because youth don’t
necessarily go to agencies either)
feels cuts in prevention by police can be augmented by social agencies; enforcement doesn’t work on
some types of crime because they’re not reported – maybe have to look at each crime and see what
way works
Fraser Stewart, St. Christopher’s House
• offer children, youth, and family services
• good experience with police from seniors’ point of view – police talk about safety, locate missing/
wandering relatives, etc.
• in terms of youth/children – police don’t really deal with them
• would like something more to be done in relation to dealing with people with metal health issues –
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more people on the streets now – need recognition/identification of these people, and need training to
deal with them on the streets
experience with police has been generally positive
have clients of many languages, nationalities – they are more trusting when people speak in their
language (if don’t have that language capability, there’s no communication with them)
also, some people are from countries where police weren’t so nice – initial mistrust stems from that
generational issues with immigrants, communication between parents and kids – kids dealing with
pressures on both sides – peers and parents
sometimes see multicultural youth with mental health-type symptoms (e.g. depression, anxiety) –
about a third want counselling, but right now can only refer – they would like to be able to help out
more, since agencies over-worked
prevention efforts are also need, especially in schools and especially with respect to use of illegal and
prescribed drugs
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• supports restorative justice – likes alternate dispute resolution – would like to do more
• with regard to woman abuse – dealing with ‘mail-order brides’ struggling with cultural issues – people
brought here, abused, then cut loose again – again, dealing with women of many different languages
• also dealing with and seeing more teenage mothers
• have provided training to officers – initially not well received – it took much work to get through
stereotypes – relationship has gotten better slowly
• drug strategy/public education by police seemed to work well as prevention
• priority should deal with how front-line officers engage with/treat youth with mental health issues –
need training – incarcerating is not the answer, but what is?
• enforcement is required by law – may get value added if officers are trained in specific areas – can
reduce the enforcement requirements; find other ways to do things – get agencies to help do things that
aren’t necessarily police functions
• partnerships and impact on each other should be communicated to find overlaps and gaps in what we
all do
Rick Gosling, City of Toronto Residents in Partnership
• concerned regarding the cutbacks everywhere – community groups and agencies losing funding –
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creating a ripple effect in the community
police need to be proactive, involved in educational programs in schools – especially regarding sexual
assault
seniors (especially elder abuse, frauds) need to be a priority, given the increasing number of seniors –
need to be proactive – also need to address inappropriate uses of power of attorney
Hate Crimes unit has become so low profile in recent years – community seeing an increase in hate
crimes, so need the unit to be higher profile and more proactive
TAVIS worked – needs to be continued – has a long-term impact in community; enforcement on its
own doesn’t work
huge demands for breakfast clubs, not only elementary schools, but also high schools and colleges –
see young women prostituting to feed themselves, including new immigrant students
it costs money, but community programs that police are involved in have led to huge inroads for police
– can’t cut these
Service needs to get creative on how money is allocated within budget
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EXTERNAL CONSULTATION – CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM PARTNERS
APRIL 19TH, 2011
Fred Braley, Guns & Gangs
• multi-disciplinary unit
• concerned with financial cutbacks in the wrong areas that may prove expensive in the long run
• TPS’s approach to dealing with street gangs costly, but money well spent – produced successes that
wouldn’t have been possible using traditional investigative techniques
• approaches street gangs as criminal organisations – can use techniques, such as wiretaps, that aren’t
available without using the criminal organisation provisions of the Criminal Code
• use of such techniques has allowed the police to gain intelligence on gang members that would not
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otherwise have been available; has resulted in convictions for offences for which police would
otherwise have had no evidence or knowledge
challenge is that prosecutions and investigations are resource heavy – wire-rooms expensive,
surveillance teams costly, prosecutions difficult and complex; rely on hundreds of wiretaps to prove
structure of organisation and nature of activities
one issue related to staff availability – TPS must have sufficient number of monitors to assess and
transcribe relevant calls – courts expect transcriptions quickly, but monitors often moved to another
project and new needs when one project is finished (even if transcriptions aren’t finished)
second issue – use surveillance and intercepted communications to prove structure of gang and
activities – interpreting this evidence in court requires well-trained gang experts (usually police
officers), but our expertise not always recognized in court – must ensure training of (a sufficient
number of ) police experts who can withstand judicial scrutiny
experts called upon to give evidence regarding non-verbal communication (e.g. hand signs),
characteristics of local and international gangs, coded language, drug/gun/gang lingo, characteristics
of armed persons, etc. – not only requires significant training, but also substantial amount of time in
court and preparing for court
expert officers also need to stay up-to-date – information becomes obsolete quickly – gangs change
lingo quickly; lose officer expertise when promoted or they are given other duties – training needs to
be ongoing, expanded
also use confidential informants and search warrants – applications very complex, more sophisticated
– need officers to be properly trained and mentored in these areas – errors are critical for investigation
and prosecution
same applies to wiretap applications – often get officers who haven’t written applications before
having to start out on a complex case – training and mentoring expensive but necessary (officer who
prepared application must also be available for lengthy court and preparation for court)
last issue –courts are imposing shorter timelines for disclosure – production of disclosure must be a
high priority for police service after a project takedown; often officers are reassigned after a project –
need to hold some back for disclosure
final analysis – these issues are costly, but results are positive in advancing community safety –
funding must be continued – generation of gangs are growing up and have seen consequences
Dan Schwartz, Criminal Intelligence Service Ontario
• Oxycodone abuse will continue to increase; now seeing more overdose deaths – Toronto accounts for
a disproportionate number of deaths (may be injecting rather than smoking) and amount of use (maybe
because being used by heroine users – crossover use)
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• new pharmacy prescription tracking system may result in more home invasions, pharmacy robberies
• may see more demand in US for Canadian oxycodone, since tamper proof oxycontin introduced in US
• prescription drugs will be available in kiosks – hooked up via video link to pharmacists – four in
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Ontario hospitals now, but will be more – potentially a risk for robberies, prescription fraud
legal highs – seeing more legal drugs (BZP, TFMPP, and MDPV) that mimic synthetics such as
MDMA (ecstasy) and methamphetamine – drugs can have serious health effects; seeing organised
crime getting involved
UK has placed a one-year ban on new products to allow time for study; we don’t have this in Canada –
drugs come out before Health Canada can regulate
Mephedrone – a schedule 3 drug (illegal) – mimics effects of ecstasy – Canada already a world leader
in synthetic drugs – again, organised crime may get involved – sold as bath salts in US
metal theft (e.g. copper) has increased due to higher price of metal – stolen from railroads, hydro
stations – creates public safety concerns
currency counterfeiting – may see a decline with the new polymer (plastic) notes arriving; but places
such as Australia saw an upsurge in counterfeiting prior to arrival of polymer notes – may see that
here; counterfeiting has dropped off significantly in Australia since implementation
gift cards – online market for buying and selling stored valued cards (e.g., gift cards) is a convenient
way for criminals to launder their proceeds of crime, as well as transport proceeds across border
Barbara Lynch, Assistant Crown Attorney – Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault
prosecutions
• represent a very large part of what comes before courts
• human trafficking often presents as domestic issue first – more probing by officers (age disparity,
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income issues, etc.) may bring more situations to light; should be incorporated into officer training –
Crowns can assist in training
women’s groups focused on the increase in double charging – when it has decreased in the past, it has
come from training improvements – officers know what to look for
tapes of 911 calls – need to get these calls as early as possible – used in court – very powerful
broader issue – technology has improved/evolved in the past decade – police and court systems need
to be compatible – need to work together (police, Crowns, victim assistance/other users)
other trend is the complexity of prosecutions continues to increase – need police and Crowns to work
closely so that delays are not longer than necessary
Sharon Burdette and Jennifer Strong, Planning & Research Bureau, York Regional Police
• just finished their Business Planning process – involved business survey, member survey, community
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survey (10,000 randomly selected residences mailed out); also held internal focus groups, met with
liaison groups, held five half-day issue panels – in Service, schools, other service priorities
identified command champions at beginning of process rather than at end – involved in entire process
– see more engagement, commitment
York Regional Police Scan summary – growing population, especially seniors – have senior liaison in
place – more crime prevention messages, elder abuse
60% growth in immigrants – focusing on diversity training for officers, recruiting, building
relationships; have fourth largest proportion of visible minorities in the country – many different
languages
with intensification, urban growth – problems anticipated; reviewing deployment model
economic disparity an issue; increase in low income households
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• increase in schools, enrolment – trying to maintain SRO ratio to students
• YRP has an aging workforce, so succession planning strategy will be developed
• top 5 priorities in community – crimes against property, traffic safety, crime prevention, guns and
gangs, and drug control and enforcement; violent crime used to be number one, but no longer
Jon Schmidt and Ramona Morris, Ontario Police College
• provide basic constable training
• no money, so have developed sustainable future initiative involving sustainable funding, program
delivery, partnerships, infrastructure requirements, management staffing
• 4 core priorities identified:
o align OPC with the standards of the Ontario Public Service
o OPC involvement in development of national standards for Basic Constable Training (BCT)
o build and enhance leadership training
o distance learning initiatives (including wireless)
• leadership training should be aligned with PSC leadership competencies, incorporate elements of
leadership at every level (including BCT), and be progressive as an officer gains experience
• Leadership Unit staff will continue to facilitate and co-ordinate courses; allows OPC to provide
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training in core leadership skills while working with representatives of police services to determine
what leadership needs are most pressing and required for the future
BCT classes smaller this year – vacancies mean they have ‘excess’ staff, but also provides an
opportunity to revamp training
have a number of senior and special courses (e.g. homicide course) – includes video training to
satellite locations – class instructors have a list of all participants, instructor can see participants, but
participants can only see instructor, not each other (different class dynamic)
partner with CPKN for on-line training – for 2011 will be involved in front-line supervisor course –
will be blended, with 4 hours put on-line (working with OACP to decide what will go on-line)
IMS 100 training is also an on-line course – will be included in BCT for My 2011 – will be able to
complete in class or on-line at their own pace
warrant training – time sensitive – to learn, they have to write, then someone has to review and give
feedback – can’t just tell them what to include; need specialists to write warrants and get experience –
generalists may not get enough chances to write to get expertise and may get training but not use it
police unit recruitment/retention issue – need tenure policies (e.g. 3 years in a unit) to ensure officers
get expertise, but officers need to move around to get promoted
potential issue – policing may see much more pressure regarding officer re-certification if courts start
asking officers when they were last re-certified or received training and what the training entailed;
looking into what can be put on web-training related to re-certification courses
considering a virtual library, but must be careful with what is put on (things will have to be updated)
with no or little hiring by police services, may be an increased demand for OPC training beyond basic
constable training, either in class, in person outreach, or on-line
can try to fill gaps in experience with training (i.e. with large number of young/inexperienced officers,
can get them ‘experience’ through training)
with small intake, education levels of these accepted get higher – expectations are high, police services
have to keep members engaged and motivated – may be hard to do if no movement, promotion
average age of intake now is 28 years – 5% have military background
London PS is hiring university graduates at age 23 who have been cadets for 2 years – gives the
Service a chance to see them
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Loretta Chandler, Office of Emergency Management, City of Toronto
• 2011 strategic directions:
o strengthen city’s ability to prepare, respond, and recover from major emergencies
o enhance strategic leadership both vertically and horizontally throughout the city’s
management structure
o increase horizontal collaboration and integration of services and programs throughout city
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ABCDs
o ensure legislative/administrative program balance and remain adaptable, flexible, and
innovative in program execution
2011 work plan involves:
o emergency plan and 15 operational support functions
o emergency operating procedures for flooding and power outages
o expanded Toronto nuclear response plan requirements
o hazard identification, risk assessment, and critical infrastructure
o emergency operations centre staff and incident management system training
o multi-year Toronto-centric exercise program
o public education and personal emergency preparedness
o emergency operations centre readiness and response
o responding to major incidents and emergencies
o corporate business continuity program
o consequence management planning
heightened interest in nuclear response plan due to events in Japan
consequence planning – e.g. for 2015 games
all about partnerships – can’t do all this alone
do hazard identification, risk assessment, critical infrastructure identification – issues/challenges
identified (looking to develop plans, training exercises)
environmental trends/challenges that could affect emergency management and public safety include:
o increasing frequency and duration of severe weather events
o aging infrastructure
o power outages
o multiple, cascading major incidents and emergencies
o global demand for potable water – pressure on province
o major events in Toronto – need integrated planning, consequence planning
o overburdened health care systems
o supply-change dependencies (food, fuel, medical components, materials)
o human resource availability (i.e. people with right skills in right places)
o fiscal constraints and societal expectations (continuing tension between expectations and
reality – what people want and what we can afford)
collaboration/integration possibilities – core components of training/common curriculum possibilities
plan for ‘major’ events as well as ‘disaster’ or ‘crisis’ events; need to have recovery start immediately
or as close to response as possible – saves money and gets help to people quicker
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EXTERNAL CONSULTATION – COMMUNITY AGENCIES
(Active in Priority Neighbourhoods)
(12 invitations sent out)
APRIL 26TH, 2011
Shirley Broekstra, Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Care Centre, The Scarborough
Hospital
• mandate is to care for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence through the emergency
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department – medical attention, options for care/funding, referrals to counsellors (various languages or
use interpreting services)
started in 1987 – attends to those 16 years and older (male and female); in 1994, extended to 12 years
and older
worked with division to develop a website with students to increase awareness of services –
educational – now have website that answers questions about what happens when go to court – worked
the Sex Crimes Unit
would like some support relating to domestic violence services – women often have to travel some
distance, usually on transit, often with children to access various services (since Scarborough is very
spread out); would like a ‘one-stop’ centre for domestic violence victims – pilot project would be
helpful
have had some successful outreach to Farsi population in Scarborough working with an officer –
would like to expand this
would like to engage in discussion about getting information on the mean age of sexual assault victims
would like to see some re-framing of how divisional police approach youth – re-frame what they say
so as not to make young people feel they are to blame for what happened to them, etc. – need training
like Sex Crimes Officers have
also, compressed work schedule makes it difficult for divisional officers to have continuity in contact
likes the idea of involving youth in the DVDs or training to give their stories to police – their
perspective based on their experiences (e.g. they come from different countries)
the first contact in a crisis needs to be reassuring, understanding
police should use a multi-linguistic agency to translate in domestic violence situations, rather than
another officer from the division (victims often don’t feel the officer speaks the language well enough,
that translation wasn’t accurate)
Jabari Lindsay, Prevention Intervention Toronto
• young people in gang intervention/prevention program – 3 cohorts of young people through pilot
program to date
• two types of interactions with police – in one location, kids saw me talking to TAVIS officers (had
been previously invited to talk to officers about how we can work together) – during interaction,
officers honoured my place in the community, understood my role and the relationship with youth
• but, on first day of second group’s training, there was a major fight and police were called – took a
long time for police to get there – glass broken, kids stabbed; program staff worried about the response
time delay and program had to hire security at staff’s request – staff , who are conduit to the kids,
withdrew, so much harder to connect
• youth don’t really like police, but will work with them if officers build a relationship, if there’s
respectful, good, open dialogue – can be in a win-win situation for both sides
29
• are finding out that many kids in the program are victims – if we can address their victimisation, it
would really help
• we have to learn how to be partners – how to work together so both sides can win
• the way TAVIS is promoted in the community is good, much information – divisions should use this
model so they can introduce/promote their officers – would ‘demystify’ the division for the local
community – give the power to the community to know who to call
• give people information – from arrest to court, what will/could happen to you
• every community worker has the potential to sway the community either way – help them to know
where to go, who to talk to – following TAVIS model
Mike Mously, Thistletown Regional Centre for Children and Adolescents
• mental health facility for kids and adolescents
• 3 programs: for autistic ‘kids’(though often not kids) (in residence and group homes, in classrooms,
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and in community), for youth with complex mental health needs (through referrals), and one with a
family focus, dealing with sexual abuse/behaviours (focuses on assessment tools; has close ties to
criminal justice system (e.g. assist in police investigations, CYAC partnership))
located in area of high-rises – have good community and good use of property by community; but one
of the two satellite offices not in a safe area – gang problems, not that close to TTC – after-hours
services offered there – trying to relocate
have had incidents of missing child/adolescent from group home with complex health difficulties –
have had good police responses – staff concerns addressed and sensitivity to youth’s issues
local police know about us, do appreciate what we do – division also lends us a training facility for our
meetings
need to widely communicate that the value is shared when relationships are built – how do we get
this message out?
Scott McKean, City of Toronto, Community Crisis Response
• provide critical incident response in communities
• arose from the 2004 Safety Plan
• has 3 pillars: first is crisis intervention/critical incident response – working with residents, community
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partners to find out who has been affected by the incident, how, and how to mobilize support; placebased perspective, look locally for support
second pillar is preparation – building safety committees or tapping into existing, developing response
protocols, including communication plans (divisions are part of the process) – have 18 protocols so far
usually in contact with community quickly and figure out how to support – assess the needs, how to
co-ordinate different services
when hear from the community, usually hear about more than just the current incident – safety
committees become safety development groups
third pillar is prevention – providing training to residents and front-line agency workers about what
support resources are out there; have community-led crisis intervention teams
responded to 316 incidents in 2010 (120 were shootings)
have been working with TAVIS initiative – we can provide point of entry into communities – can help
spread the word more than officers can, facilitate dialogue
train at the Toronto Police College with officers – we tell officers about our services, facilitate the
referral process – can get information out through our networks
work with Corporate Communications regarding incidents that occur
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• have most recently focused on local divisions – trying to make processes/activities more consistent
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across the city; testing a pilot in one division with protocol group – police activating the group
themselves – provides central contact for police to reach into network
communication is vital – police need to respect the role of community workers – key to success and
prevention
also, after an incident, people often want a meeting with police – we can facilitate this meeting, set it
up and police can come as guest
biggest potential impact – trying to develop relationships on the ground, out in the community – can
facilitate exchange of information, be a valuable resource to both sides
challenge is that we’re walking a fine line with both sides – we want both police and the community to
trust us – one officer can put a worker at risk if he/she doesn’t know the worker’s role or respect their
role
developing a training mechanism with five blocks of training to help people become community
response – would act as crime prevention mechanism if people and police relationship occurs
community doesn’t understand the different functions of police, e.g. PRU, CRU, traffic, TAVIS, etc. –
need to educate people - community workers can be useful in transmitting this information
consistency and handovers in divisions are an issue – build a relationship with a specific person, then
that person is moved or promoted
when they move or are promoted, there’s no overlap time, so officers don’t transfer knowledge and we
have to start all over again and it takes them a while to get up to speed – even just an introduction
between us and the new officer would be good; otherwise, community people start to think, “why
bother” since the officer will just move on
Gary Newman, Breaking the Cycle
• program deals with high risk, gang-involved youth; relationship with police is necessary and important
• want to empower youth – with police coming from a position of power, youth feel powerless, become
defensive
• we teach youth what different ideas of power are, where different power sources are – if youth
understand, it can change their reactions to power/authority
• would like to talk to police about not approaching youth with a ‘power over’ approach – approach
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youth in a different way
will be doing a series of workshops with the local division (will include youth) – find officers who
aren’t opposed to what we’re doing and get them more informed, then they can tell their colleagues
also, youth involved will come into the room feeling police are going to listen to them – may be able
to change how they respond to police in community
need to keep building relationships with other divisions – build relations with youths and police so that
both sides feel they are getting something out of hearing each other
developing a training DVD for the Toronto Police College – working with youth, telling their stories
about their encounters with police
would like to see a relationship between police and kids before the first contact happens in an incident
(either as a victim or instigator) – this would reduce the initial anxiety, open communication earlier
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EXTERNAL CONSULTATION – YOUTH IN POLICING STUDENTS
AUGUST 16TH, 2010
Participants:
Brittany Pinnock
Endurance Eruabor
Kelsey Bull
Phuntsok Wangyal
Philsan Omar
Rochelle Dawkins
Whitney Van
Marjahn Begum
Tiana Ellis
Rochelle Robinson
Ricardo Araujo
Mursal Aziz
Siman Ibrahim
Keyonn Thompson
Shevon Graham
Kidisha Joseph
D’Jaun Fraser-Morgan
Russell Polecina
Discussion:
How safe and secure do you feel in your neighbourhoods? In your schools?
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most said they felt pretty safe in their neighbourhoods, felt their neighbourhoods were generally quiet;
one or two said they didn’t feel safe but could not really say why
occasionally there were drugs, thefts, or break & enters
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all felt very safe in their schools
most said they had an Empowered Student Partnerships (ESP) program in their school
about half said they had a School Resource Officer (SRO) at their school
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What are the main safety-related problems in your neighbourhoods? In your schools?
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most said there were not really many problems in neighbourhoods, only an incident here or there; one
student reported shootings, robberies, loud parties
some drugs, but mostly just marijuana
only problems at school occasionally, and then not really serious (e.g. some drug use – girls sneak
drugs, mostly marijuana, in for everyone)
generally kids smoke (cigarettes, marijuana) for something to do
main problem is thefts by visitors (from change rooms, lockers)
some bullying – mostly of Grade 9 students
Would you call the police to report a crime that you witnessed? Why or why not?
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all said it depends on the situation – generally don’t want to get involved, none of their business
o would not call for something like shoplifting
o one or two would call police if they saw a ‘one on one’ fight
o about half would call police if they saw someone getting beaten up
don’t want to get into trouble
main reason for not wanting to call police was because they don’t want to have the police come to
talk to them/don’t want people to see police at their home or talking to them
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What can the police do to encourage more people (and students) to report crimes or call
about problems in their neighbourhoods?
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would be more comfortable:
o making anonymous 9-1-1 calls
o going to talk to police somewhere else
o making an appointment for later (and then having a plainclothes officer come talk to them)
o reporting on-line or on-line chat
o police calling to get details rather than coming in person (but don’t say it’s the police to
whoever answers the phone)
need to educate people more about what is a crime and what isn’t – what should be reported?
if police had better clearance rates, solved more crimes/did more, people would call
need to build trust with people, build relationships
Do you feel pressure (or fear) from others in your community/ school/ peer group to NOT
report information about something you witnessed or know about a crime?
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not really any peer pressure not to report, but people don’t like the police
don’t want to get involved in something that’s not their business
aren’t worried about retaliation
need more interaction with police – people don’t trust police (police are corrupt back home)
Do you know about anything the police are doing to assist your neighbourhood or your
school in handling the crime and safety?
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one student said they knew TAVIS was in the neighbourhood; rest of students said police were not
active in their communities
no police activities in the schools, except for the SROs (some presentations, anti-bullying program,
etc.)
How many of you have participated in police activities/programs in your neighbourhood or
in your school?
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no one had participated in any activities, except one student through ESP at school
one or two students said they knew there were occasionally barbeques at the local police station, but
that was all
In your own opinion, what is not being done now by police that could be done to make your
community or school safer?
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show up faster when something’s happening
be around more often – now only see police for high profile stuff
all thought it would be a good idea to hold police career days in neighbourhood community centres
build up relationship/trust – police aren’t wanted, we don’t like them because they treat guys unfairly
(e.g. stopped and searched); girls don’t have as many problems with police stopping them
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Would you work with the police to help reduce crime and problems in your neighbourhood
or in your school? What would it take for you to become involved?
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all would be willing to work with police – though some would not want others to know that they’re
working with police (some don’t even like others to know they’re working as YIPIs; others say their
friends are interested in what they do with police as YIPIs)
not sure what kinds of things they’d like to be or could be involved in – police should decide
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all suggest that YIPI students could be more involved in helping in communities with police, rather
than only working inside
o most would be willing to volunteer part-time during the school year if they could do this (i.e.
work in the community with police)
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presentations to teens don’t work if trying to build relationships – need activities, need to make things
interactive and interesting
o deal with smaller groups – have small group discussions about issues
In your opinion, what is the best way for the police to provide students/young people with
information on crimes that are occurring, safety, prevention, etc.?
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advertising and commercials on the Internet and Facebook; commercials targeting teens (like the
Canadian Forces ads on TV and Internet)
Facebook
announcements (each morning), assemblies, or flyers in schools
put flyers and posters up in buildings (maybe not with the police logo on them, though)
get sports players to talk to kids with the police there
Think about both your neighbourhoods and the city in general. In your opinion, what
particular issues or problems should the police focus on in the next three years or so?
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build relationships and spend time with young people – start in elementary or at least middle school
(this can help counter any negative image of police that kids get from their older siblings)
stop harassing people/profiling
child abuse
drugs
handguns
domestic violence
general neighbourhood involvement – get police more involved in neighbourhoods
hate crimes
General Comments:
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best way to build relationships with young people, especially with guys, is through sports, all kinds
o need to have mixed teams (police and community, not one against the other)
o need to have a regular – and well publicized – schedule
o have the games in neighbourhoods so people know the other people involved and don’t have
to travel far
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all agree interacting personally with officers is great and the best way to see that they are just regular
people
need to communicate – media desensitizes young people to violence and media portrayal of police
also affect how young people see them – get more positive portrayals of police in media
SROs should do more in the schools, not just sit in their offices
Service needs to publicize more what its specialized units do
should look into using the TTC for advertising, since kids generally use transit
35

Planning for the Future…

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